The Wedding Shop by Rachel Hauck Read Free Book Online

haberdashery and nearly toppled to the concrete. She caught herself in time and pressed on, her pulse resounding, her lungs burning.
    About to cross Blossom Street for the back of the shop, Cora darted from the curb without looking and smashed into something firm and gripping, corralling her about the waist.
    “Let me go . . .” She swung her elbows high and wide, trying to wrench free.
    “Cora, it’s me, Birch. Simmer down. Shoot, girl, where’s the fire?”
    She exhaled, releasing her tension, and peered into the bright glint of Birch Good’s sky-blue eyes. His ruby lips curved into a smile above his square, dimpled chin.
    “Birch, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.” Cora pushed out of his arms. This time he gently let her go. “I-I’m late, you see, for the shop. I-I had to get the morning pastries.”
    He glanced at her empty hands. She made no pretense, no attempt, to hide them. “What happened back there?” He motioned toward the park.
    “I-I don’t know, really.” She pressed her fingers to her forehead, averting her gaze, trying to work up a jolly laugh. But her voice remained weak and quavering. “A case of mistaken identity.”
    She glanced back to where the captain stood, but he was gone. Had she not panicked like a scared child she might have asked him if he’d seen her Rufus on the river. Was he well? Was he on his way?
    “Look at you. You’re trembling.” Birch’s hands slipped down her arms, pulling her to him. “Shh, it’s going to be all right.” His strong arms wrapped her against him.
    Cora propped her cheek against his checkered shirt, inhaling the familiar fragrance of lye soap and hay. “How badly did I embarrass myself just now?”
    “I don’t know. Was anyone looking?” Birch Good, farmer and friend, was as solid as the Tennessee limestone.
    She raised her head with a soft laugh. “Apparently you were.”
    “Only because you ’bout ran me over.”
    “Mercy me, I didn’t even see you,” Cora said, patting his full, farmer-built chest, then smoothing away the wild ends of her hair flitting over her eyes. “I can get so focused.” Her adrenaline ebbed, taking the shaking with it.
    “Who was it, Cora? Who did you think was over there?”
    “Maybe another time, Birch. I really must get going. We have customers from Birmingham this morning.” She tried to hold his gaze, but her eyes drifted toward the park once more.
    Birch followed her sight line. “The riverboat captain?”
    Cora chose not to confirm or deny. “This is a special customer too. Her mama grew up in Heart’s Bend, bought her dress from Aunt Jane twenty-five years ago. It’s exciting to outfit the daughters of our former brides.” Cora turned for the shop, checking the traffic before stepping off the curb.
    “Rufus St. Claire?” Birch fell in step with her. “You thought you saw him, didn’t you?”
    Cora faced him right there in the middle of the street. “Well, if you know so much, why are you asking? What are you doing in town at this hour, anyway? Don’t you have a farm to run?”
    She’d known Birch from eons ago—their fathers were school chums—and it really irked her how familiar he was with her. And how comfortable she felt with him.
    “I had some business with the bank. Thought I’d treat myself to breakfast at the diner. Old bachelor farmer gets tired of his own cooking.” Birch moved with her, across the street and toward the shop.
    “Then why don’t you get married?” Birch, five years her senior, farmed his family’s vast lands, and he could have any number of women as his bride.
    “You applying for the job?”
    “Aren’t you humorous? I believe there’s a line of women every Sunday after church just waiting to invite you to supper.”
    “Well, I got my eye on a girl. Only trouble is, she ain’t looking back.”
    “Then find one who’s looking.”
    His words burned, carving out truth she suspected for a long time. But she was hopelessly in love with a man who lived